Misfortune
by Flying Iridescent Llamas
Summary: The universe seemed to really have it out for him today. He should have jumped off the boat and swam back to Unova when he had the chance. Gladion, Hau, and and the effects of annoyingly caring family members. (Haudion Cutebonesshipping. Written for theme #13, "Misfortune")


A/N: I guess it needs to be said, but the currently prevailing theory is that Mohn is Lillie and Gladion's father. The theory goes that after being sucked into a wormhole, he somehow made his way out into the Poke Pelago.

Could you miss something if you never knew you had it in the first place?

Gladion was sure he couldn't, and didn't. Sure, he'd been born with a mark on his skin like almost everyone else on the planet, but it'd been scorched off before he was even able to remember it. He hadn't realized it wasn't considered normal to not have a mark, to not look forward to meeting the person who was essentially the other half of your soul, until he'd escaped the Foundation with Null.

"A blemish," Lusamine had called it when he'd asked her about the scar curving around his right eye. If it wasn't before, it certainly was now. Most people had regarded the scar with a mild curiosity, a rare sight on someone his age, until they learned what it had once been. Tired of the stares and pity, he'd grown out his hair to cover it. Better to be inconvenienced by his stupid hair, he'd thought, than to deal with people mourning for a relationship he'd never had and never would.

To be honest, he never had given much thought to who his soulmate was until Wicke called him on his way back to Alola after training abroad for years.

"You what?"

Wicke grinned wickedly at him over the Xtransceiver. Gladion fought the urge to drop it over the side of the boat he was on. She might have been the closest thing he had to a mother, but the woman was so infuriating sometimes.

"You heard me, young master. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop your mother from destroying you and your sister's marks, but I was able to preserve images of them and pass them off to your father as he left the Foundation."

Gladion groaned and ran a hand through his hair, irritated.

"So why tell me this? You know I don't care."

Wicke giggled behind her hand.

"I want you to be happy. Even if you have someone out there, whether you want to admit it or not, Master Gladion. Whether they're platonic or romantic, you should seek them out."

"Wicke-"

"I'll be sending you the files shortly. Your sister will meet you in a few hours when you dock!"

Before he could protest further, Wicke ended the call. The Xtransceiver pinged with a new message moments later. Leaning against the railing of the boat, Gladion sighed and opened the message.

It took a few moments for him to recognize what he was seeing and when he did. His heart dropped and his stomach turned violently. He dry heaved over the side of the boat, thanking what few lucky stars he had that he'd already lost his breakfast earlier in the day when a storm had tossed the boat around.

He knew who his soulmate was. He couldn't mistake the mark even if he wanted to. The image before him depicted a minimalist sun being eclipsed by a moon.

No wonder Wicke had pushed this on him. She knew he knew who this mark belonged to and that he wouldn't be able to get this out of his head. If she had told him her real reason in the first place, he would have hung up on her right away.

Gladion started when something nudged against his side. Silvally stood by him, a soft concerned noise rumbling from its throat. He reached over and wrapped his arms around its neck, burrowing his face into the feathers there and letting out a muffled scream.

Spending a few more years abroad (or maybe forever) suddenly sounded very appealing.

Gladion took the remaining hours of his voyage to push his raging emotions back in the small boxes he kept them in. By the time the boat made port at Hau'oli City, his face was once more schooled into an impassive scowl. He tried to keep it that way when he was tackled after pushing through the turnstile. He dropped his duffle bag to the floor and embraced his sister.

"I'm so glad you're home!" she cried as he lifted her up and spun her around. Tears were streaming down her face. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," he admitted quietly before shooting a glare at the rest of his snickering welcome party behind her.

"You're so tall! And your hair is so long!" Lillie stood up on her tiptoes and huffed irritably when she failed to reach Gladion's height.

"I see that you're still easily mistaken for a school kid," he told her with a smirk.

"Hey!"

"Also, it's kinda hard to find the time to get a haircut when you're stuck in a marsh for three weeks and surrounded by hungry Carnivines,"he continued as he picked up his duffle bag once more. Hearing crashing behind him, Gladion turned to see Silvally splayed out on the floor after flailing its way through the turnstile. It clambered to its feet and huffed as if to say, "it's not my fault you humans have such unnecessary things!" Gladion rolled his eyes and turned back to his sister, who was giggling at Silvally's antics.

"You've just been lazy about it," she scolded. "Hair doesn't grow that long in three weeks!"

The champion approached him next with a quiet welcome and light touch on his arm. They couldn't stay long and disappeared back off to the league soon after greeting him. The last person approached him and Gladion's nausea from earlier returned.

Though growing up Hau had had been shorter than Gladion, he now towered over everyone in the depot. What amount of his hair that wasn't tied up fell past his shoulders and he wore Hala's old mantle as the recently appointed Kahuna of Melemele.

"Alola, Gladion!" he greated with his trademark smile. He looped and arm around his shoulders to pull him in for a brief hug from the side. Gladion's heart caught in his throat.

Arceus, please smite him now.

Something must have shown on his face because Hau released him from the embrace and his smile turned into a concerned frown.

"Sorry, was that too much? I know you're not big on touch with most people." Most people being anyone except Lillie, he meant, but right now something in Gladion's veins protested loudly when Hau let go. He'd always been surprisingly lacking murderous intent when Hau couldn't contain himself and surprised him with a hug, but this was ridiculous.

He realized that he hadn't responded yet when he felt the concerned gazes of both Lillie and Hau, and grunted out an "I'm fine, just tired." Silvally quietly chuffed behind him and Gladion shot it a glare over his shoulder before recalling it to its ball. He did not need help with his facade falling apart.

Hau and Lillie both seemed relieved and Hau lead the way to the malasada shop nearby. Gladion left his wrapped up and Lillie and Hau dug into theirs while chattering about everything he'd missed: the Kanto champions were visiting once more (could be interesting), Nanu was considering stepping down and was looking for a replacement (he ignored the obvious hint; if Nanu wanted to talk to him he could come find him himself), and Guzma had apparently settled up north of the city on Route 2 (Gladion made a mental note to avoid training there, lest 'accidental' homicide occurred). They were content with his silence until Lillie suddenly drew his attention away from his internal pity party.

"Gladion, where are you planning on staying tonight?" she asked, eyes sparkling just a bit too much.

He sensed a trap.

"I was just going to crash at the motel out on Route 2 or at the Foundation," he said as Hau started to sneakily reach across the table towards his untouched malasada. He took pity on him and slid it towards him. He'd been a bit worried about having to kick Guzma's face in if the lowlife showed himself but he was starting to believe that his sister was going to be the bigger problem.

"There's a bird Pokemon convention going on up there right now," Hau told him with a bashful smile as he linked his hands behind his head. "They're totally booked. If I knew you wanted to stay there, I would have reserved a room for you."

Gladion shot an icy glare towards his sister when she grinned a bit too widely. He knew whatever she said next was going to be a flimsy excuse as to why he wouldn't be able to stay at the Aether Paradise. He was, unfortunately, right. There was no way she wasn't in on this with Wicke, damn them both. At this rate, it seemed that only Hau was curious to the machinations of his scheming, nosy family.

Gladion was about to tell them he was fine with camping under the stars when thunder caused the windows of the shop to rattle. It seemed the storm that had tossed the boat around earlier had followed him onto land. He sighed and studied his sister and his friend as he cradled his head in his hands. Lillie looked positively delight and Hau had a vague look of pity on his face.

"Fine," he hissed out. "What do you suggest?"

After saying goodbye to his sister (and hissing promises of a come-to-Arceus later with her and Wicke into her ear), Hau and Gladion started to make their way towards Iki Town. Hau had finally decided his family home was getting just a bit too full of cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and had moved out into his own small home outside the village. He offered his spare room, usually used by visiting Kahunas or Trial Captains, to his friend until he figured out what he was going to do.

"Or forever if you want, Gladion, I always love having company!" Hau said as they walked down the street next to the beachfront. Gladion shook his head even as some part of him did a happy flip at the thought. Stop that, he told it firmly, this is not what I want. Luckily, Hau didn't seem to notice his internal conflict and took the rejection in stride. "That's alright! I know you're gonna be super busy now that you're back and all over the place, but you're always welcome to crash with me."

Gladion wondered suddenly how long it would take to drown himself if he jumped in the ocean right now.

The rain that had been slightly drizzling as they walked chose that moment to turn itself into a downpour. Gladion spat out a particularly vicious invective and pulled his half eaten hood (courtesy of a bored Silvally) up. It didn't do him much good but it became the least of his worries when Hau pulled him to his side and under his mantle where it was warm and dry, at least for the moment.

"You look about as pleased as a wet Litten," Hau told him, and chuckled when Gladion scowled. "Come on, it's not much farther! Let's run!"

True to his word, they arrived at the small house not five minutes later. It wasn't particularly large, but the main room was open and had a combined kitchen and living room that looked out on a deck through glass doors. Gladion was led to the room he was staying in quickly by Hau, and excused himself to go change his clothes. Despite their hurry, both Hau and Gladion were completely soaked through. Thankful for his waterproof bag, he quickly changed out of his cold, damp clothes and reemerged into the main room. He was met with the sight of a shirtless Hau facing away from him, trying to dry his loose hair with a towel in the kitchen.

By the light from the kitchen window, Gladion could see bold, swirling tattoos that crawled up Hau's back before curling around a focal point on his right shoulder blade. There, a small sun was eclipsed by a moon. Gladion had seen it before when they were younger, but seeing it now sent a jolt through him. This was the mark he was supposed to have, so high up on his cheek that it almost ran into his eye.

Instead, he had a scar that held only pain, not the love fate promised.

A floorboard creaked under foot, alerting Hau to his presence. Hau peered over his shoulder and saw where Gladion's eyes were trained.

"It's a bit different than the last time you saw it, huh?" he asked before grabbing a dry towel off the counter beside him and tossing it to his friend. "Here! I don't know about you but I'm not putting a shirt on until my hair is dry. It'll just make me wet and cold all over again."

Obviously Gladion hadn't the same amount of forethought, as his own shirt was starting to soak through because of his hair. Still, he started wringing out his hair with the towel. He could always change later. They stood together in silence as thunder rumbled outside, watching out the back window as a family of Rattata ran by, led by a single Raticate in search for shelter from the storm.

It was Hau who broke the silence.

"As much as I want to hear about the places you've been the last few years, I have to ask: don't you think Lillie was acting a bit off today?"

Gladion was surprised. Hau tended to be pretty thick when it came to the subtle things in life, or at least he had been. His mind scrambled to think of how much the truth he could tell his friend without actually telling him any lies. He was hesitant to lie, but he couldn't explain to Hau that they were soulmates and then tell him he didn't want one.

"She was," he admitted quietly, giving Hau his damp towel when he stuck out his hand. He shivered a little, his slightly damp shirt clinging to his skin. "Something from our past recently surfaced and she's probably feeling stressed about it." Well, probably not stressed, but Hau didn't need to know that.

"Ah, that explains it." Hau leaned in a door and tossed the towels inside. He then plopped down on one of the couches in the living room and patted the cushion next to him. "You seem really on edge today, too. I know you're not the whole touchy-feely sharing type, but do you want to talk about it?"

No!, his mind screamed.

"Sure, I guess," he muttered and settled down on the couch, a little ways from Hau. He was apparently a masochist today, but even he wasn't that much of one to sit closer to him. He huffed out a sigh. Hau waited patiently, watching the rain slide down the glass door onto the deck. Gladion decided to rip off the bandaid quickly.

"You know Lillie and I don't have soul marks, right?" he blurted out suddenly. Hau's eyebrows raised, but he stayed silent. No, that wasn't quite true. "Well we did, but they're…" he trailed off.

"...they're…?" Hau prompted him after a moment. Gladion took a deep breath and tried to calm the anxiety welling up in his chest. He hadn't felt this way in so long, not since he and Silvally visited Kanto and saw Lusamine. The carefully constructed image he'd worked on earlier was quickly falling apart and he felt disgusted with himself.

Shakily, he reached up with his left hand to cover the scar out of habit. It calmed him down just enough for him to continue.

"They're gone. Lusamine burned them off and destroyed them completely when we were very young. She never had one herself and wanted us to be perfect like she was. She saw them as imperfections that implied we could belong to anyone but her."

Hau was still silent, but reach and arm out and pulled Gladion to his side in a tight hug. He realized he was trembling slightly. He hadn't care about this before when he thought his mark was lost forever. Curse Wicke and his sister. Damn Mohn for keeping those files.

"Apparently, Wicke was able to preserve images of them before they were destroyed," he mumbled. "She sent me mine on my way back today. I assume Lillie has seen hers already."

Hau's face lit up with a grin and he brought Gladion into a full on hug.

"That's great! Now you guys can find your soulmates, right?"

"I don't want a soulmate!" Gladion spat and struggled to free himself from Hau's hug. He only squeezed tighter.

"What? Why?"

"They're just another person who can use me and throw me out like trash, like Lusamine," Gladion snarled, "or that I can hurt in turn. If your soulmate will know you best, they'll know how to take you apart piece-by-piece, too. I don't need to go through that again. I'm find on my own."

Hau sighed and rest his chin on the top of Gladion's head. He could feel the wet strands of his friend's hair brush lightly against his forehead and suddenly realized he'd started angrily crying at some point.

"You soulmate won't do that to you, Gladion," he finally said. "You're going to be the most precious person in their entire life to them when they meet you. It would hurt them to hurt you."

Gladion supposed that was true, especially of Hau. The man didn't have a single mean bone in his body and Gladion couldn't see him manipulating him as Lusamine had done. He remembered him crying hysterically one day before Gladion left because he'd watched a video of a police force rescuing multiple abused Poochyena from a gambling operation. But still…

"And if I hurt them instead?"

"You wouldn't, at least not intentionally," Hau said confidently. "You're not your mother or your past, Glad. You care so deeply for the people around you. Your soulmate is a lucky person. Besides, haven't I always said we are at our best when we're with others?"

Gladion sighed and gave up fighting, going limp in Hau's arms. Fine. He'd accept the soulmate thing, but that didn't mean he had to tell Hau anytime soon, if at all. Unfortunately for him, fate had other plans.

His Xtransceiver lit up on his wrist as it started to ring. Lillie's contact picture was displayed. Hau released him from the hug and Gladion angrily swiped to ignore the call. However, the file Wicke had sent him earlier was still pulled up in the background and appeared when the call interface closed. Hau had leaned over, curious to see who was calling and a small sound escaped his throat when he saw the image. Gladion froze for a fraction of a second.

"Gladion, is that-" was all Hau managed to get out before Gladion bolted up from the couch and into his borrowed room. He slammed the door shut behind him and locked it before sinking down to the floor and putting his head between his knees. The universe seemed to really have it out for him today. He should have jumped off the boat and swam back to Unova when he had the chance.

He heard Hau's footsteps approach the door.

"Gladion? Glad, I know you're upset, and you don't have to come out, but it would mean the world to me if you listened."

He said nothing, not that he could if he wanted to. He felt as though he was choking on his heart in his throat. Hau took his silence as permission to continue.

"I'm really really happy right now. Honestly, I'm over the moon, but I understand if you're not, especially after what you told me tonight. I want you to know that this doesn't have to mean anything. I can just ignore what I saw and we can just keep going like we have, or not at all if you don't even want a platonic soulmate, but Gladion…" He trailed off with a sigh and Gladion heard a small noise. He imagined Hau resting his head against the door, wild hair still spilling over his shoulders.

"...if you want to try, to make this something, I'm here. We've known each other for almost a decade now, you know you can trust me. I've waited my entire life to find my soulmate and it makes me even happier to know that they're someone I already love. I would never, ever hurt you. If you want this, you would be my entire world, my sun, and my moon. Just...give it some thought."

He heard footsteps again as Hau started to retreat from the door and felt something like fear streak through him. Gladion scrambled to his feet and shakily unlocked the door and threw it open, letting his brain take the back seat to his heart for once. They both froze when they locked eyes.

"Okay," he blurted out, running an unsteady hand through his hair. "Okay. I want to try, I think. I trust you." And he did. This was Hau, who was about as frightening as a Stufful and whose love for everyone and everything around him overflowed into hugs and laughter, who always let Gladion steer their interactions so he wouldn't be uncomfortable, who ate so much malasada it was a miracle he didn't become a Snorlax. This was closest person he had to a best friend and if he had to take a risk and have a soulmate…

...no one would be better than Hau.

Hau was oddly quiet and serious as he studied Gladion.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly. Gladion nodded after a moment of hesitation and felt the tips of his ears heat up. A grin broke out across Hau's face.

"I'm going to hug you now," he warned and Gladion braced himself as Hau scooped him up in his arms and spun him around until he started to feel sick. "I can't believe it! I'm so lucky!"

"You're delusional if you think having me as a soulmate is lucky," Gladion grumbled as he swayed a little when Hau put him back on his feet. Hau grinned a little wider and then suddenly sobered. Gladion raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You don't have to show me, but…" Hau hesitated, unsure. It dawned on Gladion what he was asking and he pulled the hair away from his right eye. Hau carefully, almost reverently, reached up and drew his thumb across the scar. A spark of heat shot down Gladion's spine and he shivered as he leaned into Hau's touch.

"I didn't realize what this was," Hau admitted, "and I always figured you didn't want me to ask. You're still beautiful with it, though. Maybe even more now that I know what it is."

Gladion's face flushed.

"Sappy idiot," he mumbled and let himself be pulled into another hug. He felt Hau press a kiss on the top of his head. They stayed like that as thunder rumbled again outside and Gladion felt something like euphoria for the first time in a long while.

Until realization dawned on him in the middle of the hug.

"Go put on a shirt! You're not gonna be my soulmate if you end up like that shitty professor!"

Hau only laughed and hugged him tighter.


End file.
